


Treasure in the Sand

by Kagemihari (soracia)



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Comment Fic, Cute, Gen, Weirdness, Whimsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-13
Updated: 2006-02-13
Packaged: 2017-10-24 09:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/262132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soracia/pseuds/Kagemihari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by a comment and originally posted <a href="http://solaas.livejournal.com/277756.html">here</a>. 'Shinji and Ryoma doing odd jellyfish things together.' My brain does odd things when I'm tired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treasure in the Sand

**Author's Note:**

> Sort of almost Shinji/Ryo, but mainly genfic. Weirdness, but then, you knew that. XD

Shinji frowned and stopped at the edge of the sand to glare at a small figure sitting hunched over on the beach, looking intently at something on the ground.

"What are you doing here, no one ever comes here, I come here because I know nobody's here and the beach is empty," he mumbled crossly at the boy who was too far away to hear him. He kicked off his shoes, still muttering to himself, and then removed his socks, tucking them into the shoes to avoid the sand.

"You shouldn't be here," he grumbled, raising his voice as he wandered barefoot toward the shoreline, stopping to wriggle his toes in the sand and wrinkling his nose in what might have looked like annoyance. It was appreciative, though, accomanying as it did a sniff of the familiar smell of ocean and sand. In spite of the pleasant feeling of the place, though, he was still annoyed.

"You're on my beach," he informed the boy rather loudly, stopping behind him and shifting his weight as if he weren't sure what to do with himself, now that he was not alone as he had expected.

Ryoma looked up slowly, blinking brown eyes and studying the strange mumbling creature that had disturbed him. His beach? Whatever. He shrugged disinterestedly and went back to his study of the glistening thing on the sand--a miniature jellyfish, stranded by the tide.

He had outlined it with a stick, drawing a line that became a groove that became something of a trench, after he had poked it once, carefully, and determined that it was probably not alive. Still, it could probably sting, and he wasn't going to touch it.

Now he started on another line, angling out toward the tide pool a foot or so away--evidently the one from which the shiny thing had come, left behind as it receded. Methodically, he deepened the line, ignoring the other boy standing above him.

After a restless minute or two, Shinji sighed--the resigned sigh of one who is being ignored and not hopeful of that changing--and dropped to his knees to examine the treasure the other boy was looking at. Hmm. Shiny. It glittered in the low afternoon sun and shimmered when the breeze drifted over it.

"Jellyfish," he murmured, more to himself than to his companion. "Shiny, pretty, you shouldn't poke it with a stick, that's not nice, you should be nice to pretty things. Except girls, because girls are scary, and jellyfish are kind of scary too because they sting, but they're not as scary as girls." He nodded to himself, as if he had concluded a profound arguement, and fell silent, watching the mesmerizing glitter of the iridescent thing.

Ryoma tilted his head, giving his new friend a strange look, and shrugged. "You talk a lot," he observed. As this was not interesting, and the jellyfish was, he went back to deepening his line which was now a groove.

Shinji nodded absently and looked around, casting about for a stick of his own. Finding one that suited him, he picked it up, fiddling with it for a moment with his gaze fixed on the small brown hands that were busy making more lines. He could see the point of the other lines, they went around the treasure like protection, either for or from it, or possibly both. Dangerous treasure. His slight smile flickered briefly on his face.

But still. This other line, the new one, what was that for?

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked finally, breaking the silence that had fallen more or less comfortably between them.

Ryoma looked at him blankly. "Digging a line," he pointed out in his best 'duh' voice. Some people asked the most obvious things.

Shinji frowned. "I meant why are you doing it then, the other lines are enough and what do you need that one for, it's extraneous."

Ryoma eyed him for a minute, as if debating whether or not to answer. Then he gestured with his stick, pointing at the pool his line was heading for. "There's water there," he said simply, not bothering to elaborate.

Shinji looked back and forth, only his eyes moving as he studied the scene, and then he nodded once, sharply. "Of course, you can't touch it to take it to the water, so you bring the water to it, like a little river only I don't think it's going to do any good..." his voice trailed off a bit as he studied the shiny creature once more.

"It's dead," he announced, sounding a bit smug. He could tell that, just by looking at it. This weird boy was wasting his time if he thought the water was going to save it.

"I know that," Ryoma answered patiently, and again, duh. Did the boy think he was stupid or something? He paused, watching as the slender hand reached out and began helping, drawing the line further toward the tide pool, almost but not quite meeting the water, and dragging it back and forth, creating an extension of his groove.

"It should be buried at sea," Ryoma offered quietly at last, and he returned to his own portion of the line.

Shinji didn't answer except to nod once more, and for a long while they sat in silence, deepening their groove until it was almost a trench and the ends met, and then they sat back and surveyed their work for a solemn moment.

Ryoma looked up and met Shinji's eyes, and Shinji blinked once and nodded before he reached out carefully and with ceremony to knock away the last bit of sand blocking the entrance to their tiny canal.

They were both silent, eyes fixed on the water rushing down to flood into the trench circling the shimmering treasure on the sand, flooding up and over and covering it, silver on white on silver grey with bits of foam at the edges.

The shining treasure disappeared, then floated slightly in the surrounding liquid, shifting and glimmering as it settled and the water stilled, just barely enough to cover--but it was enough.

Shinji looked across at the boy who was no longer an intruder, and his grey blue eyes met the thoughtful gaze looking back at him. A slow faint smile crept over his face, and he tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement.

Ryoma looked at him gravely, and then slowly smiled back. It was nice to find someone else who could appreciate a treasure.

They stood together, taking one last glance at the shining puddle in the sand, and turned as if by silent agreement to walk side by side further up the sand.

In search of more treasure.  



End file.
